


A Bit of a Situation

by Liz Kenobi (Amidala_Thrace)



Category: Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-07-31
Updated: 2010-07-31
Packaged: 2017-10-10 21:19:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,350
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/104393
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amidala_Thrace/pseuds/Liz%20Kenobi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>However, the fact did not escape Anakin that he was doing something he had wanted to do ever since his latest mission began: hold hands with Padmé Amidala.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Bit of a Situation

**Author's Note:**

> Based on the following quote from Ben Burtt (producer) on the Attack of the Clones DVD commentary: "We had at one time, a scene where [Anakin] and Padmé fire a wire across an abyss and swing across together. It very much recalls the fun of the first Star Wars, and they were quite charming in this scene, because she had to hang on to him, and he had trouble getting the cable across; it kind of bounces off the first time and he has to reel it in and shoot it a second time and she's like 'Jedi, huh?'" Said scene didn't appear in the film, obviously, but this is how I imagine it might have gone. Written for the fanfic100 prompt #038 Touch, and originally posted on March 6, 2008.

Not for the first time, Anakin wished he could see in the dark.

He _could_, in a way – Jedi occasionally used their connection to the Force in such a manner that their perceptions were enhanced – but sometimes, nothing could substitute for the reliability of one's eyes. Anakin had all his Force senses trained on the path on front of him. No matter how much he squinted, though, he couldn't see a thing.

"Goodness, you'd think the Geonosians are intolerant to light," came a whisper near his ear.

_Good, she's still next to me_, he thought with relief. Out loud Anakin whispered, "Um, Padmé? Do you think maybe … well, could we hold hands? Just so we don't lose each other in this place."

Padmé laughed. "I thought you could sense where I was in the Force."

But she clasped his hand anyway, and he felt his skin prickle at her touch. It was certainly not the most dignified of situations in which to be doing this. His hand was slippery, and clammy with sweat. Hers seemed cold and shaky. However, the fact did not escape Anakin that he was doing something he had wanted to do ever since his latest mission began: hold hands with Padmé Amidala.

Anakin swallowed hard, and they crept on.

The catacombs seemed endless. He wondered how they would ever find Obi-Wan in this mess, whether they had a chance to make their way out of this tunnel without being attacked, if they should even have come in the first place. Of course, it had been _her_ idea. Anakin supposed he could always take comfort in that fact. He hadn't wanted to come; in fact, he had advised against it. But as so often happened, when Padmé got it into her head to do something, she could not be deterred. Maybe he should have put up a stronger fight, refused to go, reminded her more strongly of the danger they stood to put themselves in.

_Or maybe I_ did _do all of those things and they just didn't work_.

"Ani?"

He jumped. "What, what is it? Do you see something?"

"No, I just – could you stop squeezing my hand so hard? I'm not going to run off, I promise."

Anakin realized his grip had grown vise-like and quickly relinquished it. "S-sorry," he stammered. "I-I didn't mean to."

"I know you didn't. It's okay." Padmé paused. "Is that a light?"

He squinted again through the absolute darkness, and this time saw what she meant. A sliver of brightness had appeared up ahead, as though a door had just been opened in the tunnel. It grew larger as they continued to walk towards it, and in the dim path it cast, Anakin could suddenly discern hundreds of glittering spots spaced to either side. Some of those spots were moving.

"Padmé, we need to hurry up," Anakin said softly. "We're being watched."

They quickened their pace, Padmé looking all around to try and discover the source of the threat. She did not have long to wait. At an indeterminate signal, dozens of flapping Geonosians suddenly poured from the walls, surrounding them and aiming small blasters that fired pulsating energy.

"RUN!" Anakin bellowed, already swinging his lightsaber from side to side and decapitating several of the flapping insectoids. The others seemed warier after seeing what the weapon could do, but neither did they hesitate to engage the Jedi in combat.

Padmé, meanwhile, had taken off for the other end of the corridor. Anakin quickly positioned himself so that he was moving in that direction too, fending off the Geonosians as they flapped and jabbered and fired at him with those strange blasters. Before he knew it, he was next to her, facing a tall door. They stepped quickly through, and the door slammed down behind them.

Anakin looked all around, hurriedly assessing their situation. They seemed to be in a wide cavern, almost like a reactor core. Across the chasm was a similar doorway with an extendable causeway to bridge the gap.

"Quick!" he said. "Find the controls that extend the overpass."

"I – I think I just blasted them," Padmé said sheepishly.

Anakin followed her gaze and saw, near the doorway, a smoking collection of circuits that looked like it might once have been a control panel. _Okay. Obviously we'll need a Plan B_.

He fumbled at his belt and drew out a long grappling hook. It was standard-issue to all Jedi as part of their toolkit, but for some reason Anakin had never been able to completely master its correct operation. In field exercises he invariably shot the grappler wide of the target, or didn't throw it high enough so that it clattered back down. This was hardly the time to practice proficiency, but what choice did they have?

The door behind them inched upwards.

"They're coming through!" exclaimed Padmé.

"Hold on, hold on, I'll get it!" Hurriedly Anakin untangled the hook, twirled it over his head, and threw it with all his might towards the opposite end of the chasm. He tried to capture it with the Force, capture it and guide it towards its goal, but the door was creeping upwards and he could _hear_ the chittering of the Geonosians and they were so _close_ …

The grappling hook hit the side of the doorway, bounced off and went spiraling into the gap. Anakin let loose a volley of Huttese curses that would have made a Corellian dockhand blush.

"And you're a Jedi, huh?" Padmé asked playfully, arching an eyebrow.

"Be quiet," Anakin muttered, gaining control of the wildly swinging line and beginning to reel it in. "I missed, okay? It could happen to anyone."

"Sure." She didn't look convinced.

"Padmé, we're in a bit of a situation here, in case you hadn't noticed, and I don't need you lecturing me about my skills with the Force under duress!"

"Hey, calm down," Padmé said, placing her hand gently on his shoulder. "I wasn't lecturing. It was a joke, that's all."

Her touch soothed him, allowed him to focus. Breathing deeply, Anakin sank within the Force once more, spun the line and let it fly. This time, the grappling hook caught easily on a corner.

"Um … right," Anakin began, glancing warily at Padmé. "For this to work, I guess – I guess you're going to have to, well, grab hold of me so I can swing us across. I just don't see any other way of doing it, since you're not Force-sensitive, so I can't exactly –"

She smiled. "Relax. You're right, there _isn't_ any other way. Let's just do this."

Anakin ran his tongue over suddenly dry lips as Padmé put her arms around him and carefully clung on. He was very aware of every part of her body that was in contact with his: her hands, small but unfailingly strong; her legs, tucked around his in a surprisingly lewd manner; and his hand, as it lowered to wrap around her waist. He savoured the moment even as he worried about the continuing efforts of the Geonosians to break through the door.

"Ready?" Anakin asked.

Padmé nodded, and leaned forward to plant a small kiss on his lips. "For luck," she explained, pulling back.

He was so astonished that he nearly let go of the line. Only the door's being raised again so that it was almost half-open reminded him that they were in deadly peril. Buoyed by that kiss and by the explosion of sensations inside him, Anakin gripped the rope and executed a smooth swing that would have made the survival instructors at the Jedi Temple very proud indeed.

It was only later, when they had been captured and were awaiting their execution, that he realized just how much that kiss had actually meant to both of them. It was only later when Padmé turned to him and said _I've been dying a little bit each day since you came back into my life_ that he understood what the real purpose of the kiss had been.

It was only later that Anakin realized he had known it all along.


End file.
